draft grades

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EAGLES 2016 DRAFT REPORT (Full)

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/01
Posted in: Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

retro

WE looked at the first three rounds in Part One. This here is the FULL report.

ROUND ONE: Carson Wentz (QB) – I see Eagles fans everywhere talking themselves into this guy. Don’t get me wrong, he seems like an okay guy, and gives a pretty good interview. But hey! He’s still a #2 overall who’s supposed to sit on a shelf for a year or so. Why would you sit a rookie QB? So he can watch and learn. Learn from who? GOOD QUESTION! People point to Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre as an example, but last time I checked, Sam Bradford was no Favre. And neither is Chase Daniel. The bottom line here is that we traded the farm to draft a kid who won’t help us improve on last years 7-9 mark. Conversely he also won’t improve while contributing to a worse record this year. Grade: C-

ROUND TWO: I’d love to discuss this pick but, well…ya know… (sigh)

ROUND THREE: Isaac Seumalo (G) – I watched some game tape of this guy vs Arizona and was blown away by how poor his hand usage is. Add to that just 19 bench presses at his pro day (not the Combine). I’m left worrying about the longevity of a 303 pound Guard who has poor hand instincts and little upper body strength. Grade: D

ROUND FOUR: Let’s play everyone’s favorite game! Waiting for Round Five!!!

ROUND FIVE (A): Wendell Smallwood (RB) – Having read the tweets he put out badmouthing Philly and calling 75% of the men here gay, I wanted to be able to say that this guy sucks, is just a camp body, and that he’ll never make it in the NFL. After watching some game tape (not a highlight reel), I have to say that he’s a pretty ordinary RB. He can get you some good gains if the holes are there, but he’s not a creator in the LeSean McCoy mold, despite having a similar build. He also gets run down from behind with open space still in front him. He has the look of a camp body, but considering our lack of depth, he may give Kenjon Barner a real run for his money. Grade: C-

ROUND FIVE (B): Halapoulivaati Vaitai (T) – I know I’ve been giving these picks some pretty unexciting grades, and this one is no different. Seriously watch the tape and tell me why I should be enthusiastic. This isn’t me being mean. Look, Carson Wentz will pay the price if we don’t get him good protectors. This kid here watches too much football when he should be playing. He’s sluggish off the line, and doesn’t believe in finishing his blocks. Seriously, watch the tape and see how often he takes halfhearted swipes at his man, fails to latch on, or maintain control of his assignment or area. Grade: D-

ROUND SIX: Blake Countess (CB) – There are some highlight tapes of him, but I need a game tape to really evaluate a player’s habits. Since I couldn’t find any on him, I can’t form a solid opinion. What I can do is give my general impression of his situation with the Eagles. He’s a 5’9” Nickel CB, on a team with veteran depth. Even if he sticks he adds nothing we don’t already have. This is a wasted pick. Grade: F

ROUND SEVEN (A): Jalen Mills (FS) – Tackles with an exaggerated looping motion to his arms that may get him killed in the NFL. Stops his feet way too much when diagnosing from the Nickel spot. As a FS doesn’t hit his run fits and is hardly a factor in coverage. As a Safety you have to make your name either being able to cover really well or being known to take guys heads off. This player does neither. Grade: D

ROUND SEVEN (B): Alex McCalister (DE) – At 6’6” 239 he’s too thin to play DE at the pro level, as he already could be manhandled by blockers in college. That said, the guy is explosive and seems to prioritize setting the edge over rushing the QB. He also turns his hips and runs pretty well. If he can translate that to OLB, we could have a steal here. Even if he only develops into a situational player. Grade: B

ROUND SEVEN (C): Joe Walker (ILB) – No game film. We need players at this position. Grade: C

EAGLES 2016 DRAFT REPORT (Pt. I)

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/04/30
Posted in: Draft, NFL, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

 

fans 2

ROUND ONE: Carson Wentz (QB) – I see Eagles fans everywhere talking themselves into this guy. Don’t get me wrong, he seems like an okay guy, and gives a pretty good interview. But hey! He’s still a #2 overall who’s supposed to sit on a shelf for a year or so. Why would you sit a rookie QB? So he can watch and learn. Learn from who? GOOD QUESTION! People point to Aaron Rodgers sitting behind Brett Favre as an example, but last time I checked, Sam Bradford was no Favre. And neither is Chase Daniel. The bottom line here is that we traded the farm to draft a kid who won’t help us improve on last years 7-9 mark. Conversely he also won’t improve while contributing to a worse record this year. Grade: C-

ROUND TWO: I’d love to discuss this pick but, well…ya know…

ROUND THREE: Isaac Seumalo (G) – I watched some game tape of this guy vs Arizona and was blown away by how poor his hand usage is.

Added to that is just 19 bench presses at his pro day (not the Combine). I’m left worrying about the longevity of a 303 pound Guard who has poor hand instincts and little upper body strength. Grade: D

ROUND FOUR: (PRESUMPTIVE) This round hasn’t happened yet, but I sense a repeat of Round Two coming on. Trading a player to get in on this round might not be a bad idea.

2015 EAGLES DRAFT REVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/05/04
Posted in: Draft, Fans, NFL, Players, Reviews, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

Who will wear number 15... 4.29.15

NELSON AGHOLOR (WR) 1st round – I have no idea how to feel about this pick. We replaced a polished, bonafide NFL player, with a younger, cheaper version who we hope will be at least as good. I’m not knocking the kid himself, it seems like he has the tools. I just feel like we spent  our top pick trying to mop up a spill we created.

ERIC ROWE (CB) 2nd round – This was my favorite pick of the Eagles Draft class. I don’t see him as a CB, but he may end up there since I don’t have a coaching contract. I have a sinking feeling he’ll end up being wasted as the SS in this Single-high coverage system. I PRAY the Eagles shock the world and switch to a base Cover Two.

JORDAN HICKS (OLB) 3rd round – I don’t get this pick. He’s smaller than the OLB’s we use in this system, has an extensive collegiate injury history, and comes from a 4-3 system, which means that he’ll have to learn 3-4 OLB, or (if he’s slid inside) he’ll have to learn ILB. That’s a big deal seeing as how his game doesn’t seem to include taking on Offensive Linemen.

JACOREY SHEPHERD (CB) 6th round – If he sticks maybe he’s a Nickle/Dime Corner. I like his aggressiveness to the ball. However, due to that aggressiveness, his poor tackling, and lack of raw speed, I’d rather have a Safety playing over him. I don’t see him on the edges vs the WR’s in this division.

RANDALL EVANS (CB) 6th round– Seems this guy has a better shot as a reserve FS than as a CB.

BRIAN MIHALIK (DE) 7th round – I don’t get this pick at all. I don’t see the point of an underpowered and lanky (6’9”) lineman.

 

On the whole it feels like Kelly was a husband picking up the groceries his wife told him to. There were no major errors, but he got too much of one thing and completely forgot another. Still, the only way to have major issues with this draft is if you’re completely unreasonable.

Last year we had a bad draft, this year was sort of “Meh”. There were no big gambles, and if none of the bottom three picks stick, it’s not a big deal; but if any two of them do, it’s a high quality draft.

There are a couple of head scratchers here though.

  • Three CB’s but NO Offensive Line help? Especially after last year?
  • Who is Hicks here to replace?
  • OMG, So we’re really going with Sam Bradford???

Now that this one is in the books, it’s time to see how it all shakes out.

 

 

NFC EAST DRAFT BREAKDOWN

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/05/12
Posted in: Draft, Reviews. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment
Image courtesy of ESPN.com

Image courtesy of ESPN.com

GOOD teams are built through the Draft. While we know what WE did over the weekend, to really put it in perspective you have to get a look around your division to see who added the most firepower and who wasted the most picks.

DALLAS: Not a great Draft. They grabbed a solid building block in the 1st by getting an OT to maybe replace Doug Free (finally), and took a swipe at replacing DeMarcus Ware with DeMarcus Lawrence in the 2nd. They added some camp bodies later on, but no one we should be concerned about beyond their second pick.

NEW YORK: Did pretty well for themselves this year. The WR they got in the 1st  looks like a solid addition, but it was the C they added in the 2nd that got my attention. During my Pre-Draft NFC Review I mentioned that they were revamping their O-line. Well when you take a C that high, you know there’s a solid commitment being made somewhere to a long-term picture. I was also impressed with the RB they added in the 4th. The knock on him is that he didn’t catch many balls in college, but since when did the giants make throwing to RB’s a big part of what they traditionally do? Keep your eye on that SS they added in the 5th. If he sticks this year, he could be trouble for us down the line.

WASHINGTON: Probably had the best Draft of the division. (Though some may say NY did.) Adding Trent Murphy to Brian Orakpo and Ryan Kerrigan was almost unfair. They followed that up by adding youth to their O-line, and in the 4th they added a CB with a 2-3 round grade on him. Couple rounds later they added a RB as if they wished to match our depth at that position.

 

Seeing how much attention our rivals paid to their O-lines, and looking at the age/injury issues with our own line, makes me uneasy to say the least. In fact, it makes it look like the team was lucky Evan Mathis didn’t call them on the threat to trade him by daring them to do something so stupid.

In any case, you build to chase the leader and right now the leader of the NFC East is the Eagles. The selection of OLB’s by Dallas and Washington, and NY’s selection of the specific SS they took in the 5th, says that teams are clearly concerned about setting the edge on defense. Likely this is a direct response to LeSean McCoy’s success last year.

Long story short: I think the ‘skins and giants made themselves better over the weekend. Dallas made an investment for down the road but might see some early returns on that O-line if they give their 1st rounder an early shot at the starting job. 

So which rival would you say had the best Draft this year?